Reggie Jackson answers question about returning to Rickwood Field (Birmingham)

 
Yeah that was some amazing stories from Reggie. Powerful. Glad McNamara and some of the players had his back.
 
I remember Reggie's epic battles with manager Billy Martin when both were in NY. One game Martin thought Reggie was loafing so he pulled him in the middle of an inning. Could you imagine something like that happening today?
 
I suppose every time one of these older black athlete passes we get to hear about the racism they experienced? Seems to be the major narrative of the media today. We've not hear boo from Reggie Jackson for decades and all the sudden he's on the set of a baseball broadcast telling how hard it was for him.
I don't know about anyone else, but I grew up in the 70's and 80's and I simply do not recall there being much talk about racism in sports. In fact I'd say sports is something that brought people together. I don't think Reds fans disliked George Foster, Lee May, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey because they were black? The liked these players because they helped your team win. Reggie Jackson was one of the highest paid players of his time, signing big deals with the NY Yankees and Baltimore Orioles.
 
14Red said:
I remember Reggie's epic battles with manager Billy Martin when both were in NY. One game Martin thought Reggie was loafing so he pulled him in the middle of an inning. Could you imagine something like that happening today?
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Didn't something similar happen a few years back when Javy Baez was with the Cubs? I seem to recall a play where Baez didn't give max effort and the manager pulled him. The media covered it but other than that, my recollection is hazy.
 
oldline70 said:
Didn't something similar happen a few years back when Javy Baez was with the Cubs? I seem to recall a play where Baez didn't give max effort and the manager pulled him. The media covered it but other than that, my recollection is hazy.
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Great call, yes, he was pulled from a game just last spring for not hustling out a ground ball.
 
14Red said:
I suppose every time one of these older black athlete passes we get to hear about the racism they experienced? Seems to be the major narrative of the media today. We've not hear boo from Reggie Jackson for decades and all the sudden he's on the set of a baseball broadcast telling how hard it was for him.
I don't know about anyone else, but I grew up in the 70's and 80's and I simply do not recall there being much talk about racism in sports. In fact I'd say sports is something that brought people together. I don't think Reds fans disliked George Foster, Lee May, Joe Morgan, Ken Griffey because they were black? The liked these players because they helped your team win. Reggie Jackson was one of the highest paid players of his time, signing big deals with the NY Yankees and Baltimore Orioles.
Click to expand...
Reggie's issues were in the mid 60's - very different times - Jim Crow laws still in effect many places. Heck, even the black NASA lady that was a math genius in the space program had to use a separate bathroom. Race riots and KKK killings were happening. MLK was shot for speaking out. Stop pretending it did not happen.
 
A couple pieces of hate mail from 1972 and 1973 when Hank Aaron was in pursuit of Babe Ruth's career HR record are displayed in the story linked below. The story was written in April of 2014 according to the URL.

www.cnn.com

Besting Ruth, beating hate: How Hank Aaron made baseball history

Despite great personal risk, Hank Aaron made sports history on April 8, 1974 when he broke Babe Ruth's total home run record. CNN takes a behind the scenes look at how this sports legend was made.
www.cnn.com
 
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